A territorial history of the international system

This article charts the evolution of the international system from the post‐Napoleonic wars to the present, with special reference to growth in the number and configuration of states as well as changes in territorial sovereignty involving those states. Growth and change in the international system was found to occur largely in the 20th century. In that time, war plays a major role in precipitating the growth of the international system, although war is less significant in changes in territorial sovereignty. Finally, it was noted that major powers were involved in one half of the territorial changes. Implications for the future of the international system are discussed.     

Reflections on the history of Japanese diplomacy

Japan and the Wider World: From the Mid‐Nineteenth Century to the Present, Akira Iriye. London: Longman. 1997. viii, 213pp. ISBN: 0–582–21053–4

The Clash: U.S.‐Japanese Relations Throughout History, Walter LaFeber. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 1997. xxii, 508pp. ISBN: 0–393–03950–1

Hands Across the Sea?: U.S.‐Japan Relations, 1961–1981, Timothy P. Maga. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press. 1997. x, 183pp. ISBN: 0–8214–1210–8     

Reflections on the history of Japanese diplomacy

Japan and the Wider World: From the Mid-Nineteenth Century to the Present, Akira Iriye. London: Longman. 1997. viii, 213pp. ISBN: 0-582-21053-4

The Clash: U.S.-Japanese Relations Throughout History, Walter LaFeber. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 1997. xxii, 508pp. ISBN: 0-393-03950-1

Hands Across the Sea?: U.S.-Japan Relations, 1961-1981, Timothy P. Maga. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press. 1997. x, 183pp. ISBN: 0-8214-1210-8     

A (short) history of the clash of civilizations

Where does the clash of civilizations thesis and its underlying us-versus-them mentality come from? How has the idea been engineered historically and ideologically in the ‘east’ and ‘west’? What were the functions of Christianity and Islam to these ends? These are some of the questions that will be discussed in this article that engages both the clash of civilizations thesis and the discourse of ‘Orientalism’ more generally. Dissecting the many manifestations of mutual retributions, the article establishes the nuances of the ‘clash’ mentality within the constructs we commonly refer to as ‘Islam’ and the ‘west’, showing how it is based on a questionable ontology, how it has served particular political interests and how it is not inevitable. What is presented, rather, is a short genealogy of this idea, dispelling some of its underlying myths and inventions along the way.     

中俄原油管道线路方案变更原因浅析

2011年1月,按照泰纳线方案建设的中俄原油管道正式投入使用。在十余年的方案变更过程中,中、日、俄分别提出了安大线、安纳线、泰纳线三套管线线路方案。在安大线与安纳线间犹豫后,俄罗斯最终选择了泰纳线。其原因包括确保管线控制权、开拓广阔亚太市场、振兴远东经济、尤科斯事件影响与保护贝加尔湖生态五个方面。     

A water programme in Vietnam and its impact on women

Evaluation is now recognised as an essential component in planning and implementing projects, and is one important means by which recipients can participate in the design process. In Vietnam, the liberalisation of the economic and social life of the country in the last few years has allowed Oxfam the scope to consider long-term development plans. As a first stage, a review of the impact of an Oxfam project on the community was undertaken, paying particular attention to the situation of women. Parts of the findings are explored in this article, to show that one infrastructural input, in this case a pumping station, will have a broad range of consequences for the community concerned. Contrary to expectations, increased production is tending to encourage co-operation between men and women, out of shared interest in strengthening the stability of the household, now recognised (in place of the collective) as the prime economic unit in Vietnam.     

简析俄欧关系的非对称结构及其发展趋势

俄欧关系作为一对极其重要的大国关系,其发展和演变受制于这一关系本身的内在结构。俄欧关系是建立在制度化框架基础之上的,并且具有结构性非对称特点:角色性质与合作机制、博弈手段及其影响力、关键利益与核心关注以及影响俄欧关系的跨大西洋三边关系都是非对称性的。     

A history of drones: moral(e) bombing and state terrorism

This article argues that an historical investigation of air power makes possible the critique of current regimes of drone surveillance and bombing as a practice of state terrorism. By identifying certain key themes regularly used in terrorism studies for the classification of violence as “terrorism”, this article shows that early air power theorists understood military aircraft as essentially instruments of terrorism. A central argument permeating these theorists’ conception of air power was that the military value of aviation lay in its capacity to target the enemy’s population and, by means of bombing, generate a significant “moral effect” – that is, a psychological effect against the morale of civilians. This strategic formula constituted a central component of British air control schemes during the interwar period, where terror bombing was deployed systematically in order to control and pacify colonial populations. In arguing that widespread and long-lasting terror remains an inalienable feature of air power, this article concludes with a call for a critique that accounts for the fact that current deployments of armed drones – for instance, the US “targeted killings” programme – effectively reproduce these historical and material conditions of terrorist violence.     

Catching history on its wings: the experience of Pambazuka News

The authors reflect on the establishment and rapid evolution of an African electronic newsletter, Pambazuka News, an initiative rooted on the one hand in the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs), and (on the other hand) in the struggle against impoverishment and injustices. Among the main learning points are that electronic publishing is a long-term commitment, because of the trust established between the organisation providing the service and those using it. The immediacy of the medium enables information to move around in a range of different ways, and exerts new forms of mutual accountability. There remains, however, the critical issue of how to guarantee the resources to maintain such a service without compromising the content or diluting the purpose.     

简析中亚国家政治转型中的部族政治文化因素

历史上,中亚地区由于没有稳定的国家概念和固定的国家边界,人们的部族属性往往成为民族认同的重要标志之一,而带有宗法制和家长制的部族政治文化对于中亚各民族的政治行为方式、部族内部的稳定以及部族问的和睦共存,起到了积极的促进作用.本论文将对各具地区特色的部族政治文化及其基本特征进行剖析,探究中亚地区这一传统的政治文化现象对中亚各国的政治发展进程所产生的现实影响.